To represent Canada during the winter Olympic games, Shane Koyczan wrote a poem supposedly defining Canada, which was presented by himself, live at the opening ceremony.
I feel as though the message portrayed in this very well-worded poem has been said and heard many times before. The fact that a country is not defined by it's stereotypes is a fact that many people already realize, and that many influential people have already made a point of proving, but is frequently used as a theme anyways. Although I was awed by the passion and dedication emitted by the speaker, the overall theme was unoriginal and didn't spark any passion for Canada's diverseness and uniqueness from me. In my opinion, speaking more in depth about what Canada IS rather than what is isn't would have been a more motivating literary piece.
Although I didn't appreciate the theme, the language used in this poem was VERY inspirational and creative. This poet was very successful in portraying the desired message to his audience. The fact that he used metaphors and imagery that only Canadians (or people who enjoy making fun of Canadians) would understand, and spoke jokingly about the inaccurate Canadian stereotypes made the overall poem funny, and enjoyable. The last line was probably the most influential part for me: "And what's more is that we didn't just say it. We made it be". This part of the poem made me realize that although I don't agree with the poet's choice of theme, he made an overall unforgettable statement about Canada to the Olympic viewers.
Be sure to answer the entire question! 4.5/6
See the We Are More Literary Devices Page for the rest of the question. I forgot to copy and paste.
To represent Canada during the winter Olympic games, Shane Koyczan wrote a poem supposedly defining Canada, which was presented by himself, live at the opening ceremony.
I feel as though the message portrayed in this very well-worded poem has been said and heard many times before. The fact that a country is not defined by it's stereotypes is a fact that many people already realize, and that many influential people have already made a point of proving, but is frequently used as a theme anyways. Although I was awed by the passion and dedication emitted by the speaker, the overall theme was unoriginal and didn't spark any passion for Canada's diverseness and uniqueness from me. In my opinion, speaking more in depth about what Canada IS rather than what is isn't would have been a more motivating literary piece.
Although I didn't appreciate the theme, the language used in this poem was VERY inspirational and creative. This poet was very successful in portraying the desired message to his audience. The fact that he used metaphors and imagery that only Canadians (or people who enjoy making fun of Canadians) would understand, and spoke jokingly about the inaccurate Canadian stereotypes made the overall poem funny, and enjoyable. The last line was probably the most influential part for me: "And what's more is that we didn't just say it. We made it be". This part of the poem made me realize that although I don't agree with the poet's choice of theme, he made an overall unforgettable statement about Canada to the Olympic viewers.
Be sure to answer the entire question!
4.5/6
See the We Are More Literary Devices Page for the rest of the question. I forgot to copy and paste.